Leafy Tree Frame Best Wishes by Anne Thompson

It's Sunday night as I write up this post and almost everything that could go wrong in this process has gone wrong. Ever have one of those days?! The computer has been acting up and the camera died after three photos. So I'm just going to have to work with what I have because this goes live at 3:01 AM.

I've spent the month of June making birthday cards to replenish my dwindling supply. Today's card with the sentiment "best wishes" could be used for a birthday card or for any occasion when you want to send best wishes. I used watercolor paper, two dies, and two pieces of the same dot/stripe paper on a white notecard.

I started with a piece of Memory Box WATERCOLOR PAPER WP101 and green paints from my Kuretake watercolors. I wet the paper first with a wide brush and clear water and then dabbed on various shades of green paint with a smaller brush and let the water move the colors to blend them.

After the painted paper was dry I cut it using the LEAFY TREE FRAME 94420 and the BEST WISHES BANNER SCRIPT 94394.

I cut two pieces of the same double-sided dot/stripe paper 5 1/4 X 4, placing the dots on the front of the notecard and the stripes on the inside. This paper is from the SPRINGTIME BOUQUET STRIPES AND DOTS PAPER PAD PP1007. I used very narrow Scor-Tape and a glue pen to add the die cut pieces to the dotted paper on the card front. I found a sticky-back green gem to dot the i.

I like the way the Leafy Tree Frame embosses the leaves on the tree and lines on the frame, giving it a lovely texture. Perhaps I could have gotten even more dimension if I had die cut the image while it was still damp. I find that even lightly misted paper often gives a better impression than really dry paper.